Ferguson Police Probe Brown Family Brawl Over T-Shirt Sales

Police in Ferguson, Mo., are investigating a fist-fight brawl between members of the family of police-shooting victim Michael Brown – including his mother – over who has the right to sell commemorative T-shirts.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports Pearlie Gordon, the mother of Michael Brown Sr.’s wife, Calvina, was one of three people selling "Justice for Mike Brown" shirts from a tent outside a local restaurant on Oct. 18 when up to 30 people rushed them, the newspaper reports Thursday.

Gordon then told McSpadden she was Michael Brown Sr.'s mother-in-law, and unless McSpadden had a patent on her son’s name, she was going to continue. Gordon told the Post Dispatch she and her son-in-law sell shirts, bandanas and other Brown memorabilia at the tent and over the Internet.

Gordon alleged she was beaten up by one of the group, and McSpadden allegedly punched her, the newspaper reports.

Gordon said $1,500 in merchandise and $400 were stolen.

A lawyer for McSpadden, Lynne Perkins, told the newspaper her client "denies that she assaulted anyone.'

McSpadden had initially asked the incident report not be released to the media, but a judge ruled Wednesday the material was an open public record.

A witness watched the fight and recorded it, but didn’t immediately provide the police department with the video, according to the report.

The unarmed 18-year-old Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, triggering weeks of protests in the St. Louis suburb. A grand jury's decision in the case is expected soon.

Police in Ferguson, Mo., are investigating a fist-fight brawl between members of the family of police-shooting victim Michael Brown – including his mother – over who has the right to sell commemorative T-shirts.